


Highway to Hell and Redemption

by Kenlo_Ren



Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Bisexual Veronica Sawyer, Demon Heather Chandler, F/F, Heather Chandler-Centric, Lesbian Heather Chandler, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:33:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28979682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kenlo_Ren/pseuds/Kenlo_Ren
Summary: Heather Chandler was dead, it was common knowledge in Sherwood.Most believed the Demon Queen of High School had taken her own life.Veronica knew she was dead, a victim of Jason Deans mental health rather than her own mind you. But she was dead all the same.Even Heather Chandler knew she was dead, she’d spent long enough in Purgatory to put the pieces together.That is until she wakes up in a grave yard one night with only one goal in mind: pay the former-Heather turned murderer a visit.
Relationships: Heather Chandler/Veronica Sawyer
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Highway to Hell and Redemption

Heather had never been one for theological thought, granted she was smart, had to be to stay at the top of the Westerburg food chain, but what happened when you died was never something Heather had ever truly considered. Still when school had described Purgatory as a sort of waiting room where you went prior to being sent to Heaven or Hell she hadn't really thought the analogy was meant to be taken literally. But that was what the room Heather was trapped in, had been trapped in for god knows how long, looked like, resembling one you'd find in a hospital or something; there was a sort of reception area, which had remained eternally vacant, a coffee table with nothing on it, and a few more of the same uncomfortable seats Heather currently occupied.

When she'd initially arrived Heather had spent a fair while in an unbridled rage about her death since she could perfectly remember every agonising detail which accompanied drinking drain cleaner. But once those emotions had subsided she'd concluded that she was in Purgatory thanks to the fact that, apart from being unimaginably bored, there wasn't really any suffering and everything from the room to her signature vibrant red uniform to even her skin was a monotonous grey. She wasn't sure how long she'd been in there, since time didn't appear to exist there given the fact absolutely nothing had changed, but it had been long enough that she'd completely mellowed out over the most crucial event in her life- its end- and the perpetrator: Veronica Sawyer; the nobody she had raised from the dirt of Westerburg and transformed into one of the Heathers and hell her best friend, who had repaid the debt by vomiting on her shoes and poisoning her with drain cleaner. Ironically, Heather was glad Veronica had killed her, she'd have preferred the event never happened of course, but the fact her best friend did it and was the last face she ever saw gave her a dull ache in her heart to focus on rather than the rampant boredom, though she wasn't sure singing Kumbaya for eternity in Heaven would be much more enjoyable.

Heather once more zoned back in, since time didn't exist neither did sleep so simply zoning out of the situation was her only respite from the oppressive room, only this time something was amiss, imperceptible as it may be to normal people but this room was her kingdom and she knew when something wasn't as it should be. Scanning every inch of the place quickly Heather discovered the source of the disturbance to be a door that hadn't been there previously which, as if sensing it had been detected, promptly swung open and a voice called out her name.

"Well fuck me gently with a chainsaw" Heather stated out loud, she knew this day would come when she would leave the waiting room and her true fate would be revealed but as much as she longed for a change of scenery the fact that this moment was now upon her filled Heather with an existential dread that the outcome wouldn't be as favourable as staying in the waiting room.

"Take your time why don't you" the voice called again, it sounded a lot more fed up now but did the trick of snapping Heather out of her daze, her fate was probably already sealed since this meeting was happening but it wouldn't hurt to put her best foot forward and enter with as much power and confidence from her past life as she could muster and face her fate head on, she may be dead but that didn't mean she would go in broken.

Well that was the plan at least: go in with a much gusto as possible and accept her fate as Heather Chandler in her prime not the Heather Chandler who dwelled on her death just to feel something. This plan lasted a grand total of 13 seconds however, as her mood immediately soured when she entered and noticed that it wasn't some big court room or anything interesting but a cramped cubical office about as bleak as the waiting room and the person who'd called her through wasn't an angel or anyone even remotely imposing but some tired white-shirt who couldn't look more washed up if he tried.

“Now I assume you know what this meeting's about, you were a smart girl from what your file says. Not smart enough to notice your coffee was blue and smelt like bleach but hey can’t win ‘em all” the man said his voice maintaining its tired disinterested but becoming more alive as he mocked her death. Taken aback by his audacity Heather had wanted to counter-insult him but he simply cut her off before she had the chance.

"That's great please be seated we've a lot of ground to cover and I've a quota so we're gonna have to blitz this." He said looking up from his paper work to watch Heather sit down before continuing. "Now then as you know you're dead, once again congratulations on the dumb death, and have been in purgatory. Now, after reviewing your file we see that you were: Proud, Lustful, Envious, and Wrathful. Which means you're off to hell so--"

"Woah Woah Woah Woah woah. Back the fuck up what do you mean I'm going to Hell?” Heather interrupted her shock quickly morphing into desperation as she continued “I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't commit any crimes and I'm only here because I was murdered surely I should be in the clear right?”.

The man simply sighed clearly getting the question a lot "wanted to avoid this but hey ho" he mumbled before finally looking up and making eye contact with Heather. "While it is true that you didn't do anything particularly wrong in your life, in fact you lived a fairly normal life by all standards, that doesn't mean you're seeing the pearly gates. Think about heaven less of the standard destination and more of an elite country club, you either had to of made some great contribution to the world, which you obviously didn't do, or you had to basically live like a saint".

"So what that's it then I'm going to Hell not cause I did something wrong but just cause I didn't do anything right?" Heather responded slightly dejected.

"Pretty much" the man replied before trying to soften the blow somewhat "But look on the bright side because you did nothing wrong you'll be spared the fire and brimstone torture you're imagining. No your punishment will be more akin to a constant irritation, like me."

At that last remark Heather's eyes widened in confusion before reexamining the room they were in taking stock of how weird the situation seemed and the lack of fanfare for a fairly important task.

"From the looks of it you've already put things together, you're file wasn't kidding when it said you were smart, but let me spell it out for you. For you this is Purgatory, the waiting room, however, for me this is Hell: spending the rest of eternity in this dead end admin job."

“So what my punishment for nothing in particular is working the nine till five?” She asked somewhat skeptically that something so well normal was a punishment in hell- a place of constant torture supposedly.

“That’s about the long and short of it. It's a piss take of an existence but trust me it could be a lot worse. Now then as a new resident of Hell you’ll need all your records in order and your—“ He was cut once more, this time it was from the ringing of the phone on his desk. The call dearly being unexpected since not only did he jump at the sound of it but also seemed to be trying to figure something out before he reached for the receiver. Heather noted his hand was shaking as it hovered just above the ringing phone, seemingly psyching himself up for the interaction before quickly picking it up.

“Y-yes?” He stuttered his own nervousness rubbing off on Heather as she watched him seemingly go pale, even if such a thing should have been impossible what with the lack of any colour. “I-I see right away sir” he finished before putting the receiver down and turning his attention back to Heather. “Um yes your case has been redirected please go through that door you’ll be guided thereafter”.

The fact Heathers case had been 'redirected' put her on edge but, judging from his reaction to the call, it was clearly from someone significantly higher up than this guy so Heather dutifully did as told, not wanting tardiness to ruin her chances for a better outcome. When Heather left the office she'd expected the waiting room again however, what she wasn't expecting was to be bombarded with colour. It had been so long since she had seen anything other than grey that she had to shield her eyes as they readjusted but once that had happened she noticed the room she'd walked into wasn't the same dull waiting room she was accustomed to but one much more fancy in all different shades of red with ornate golden highlights, not only that but it also had an actual receptionist and people milling about their day, it reminded Heather of a hotel lobby she had been in once when the house was getting redecorated and they'd all stayed in a hotel while the work was done.

"Ah Heather Chandler I presume" the receptionist called over to her "you're expected please go though now" she said pointing over to rather unassuming door which stood alone on the opposite side of the room. Heather sighed, following orders had never really been her style and if she was being honest she was getting kinda sick of treated like a dog that had to sit and heel, but she relented it wouldn't do to ruin her chances just because her pride was getting wounded. Rousing herself she did as told seeming to regain some of her confidence and aura as she entered what she assumed would be the meeting which would decide her afterlife.

Heather was mildly surprised by the interior of the room she'd entered, while the door was unassuming the fact it was connected to a hotel lobby looking place Heather had expected maybe a penthouse or somewhere at least in-keeping with the modern aesthetic. What heather was not expecting was another office, granted this one was a fair bit larger than the cubical one but it was still just as functional, the back wall was lined with filling cabinets and the only other object was a desk behind which a man sat. As Heather cautiously approached the man she saw his desk was covered in basically antiques, it had a typewriter and old rotary phone, so Heather assumed he was the one who'd called, she also noticed that her side of the desk had no chair so once she'd got close enough she just had to stand around awkwardly waiting for him to notice. When he eventually did notice her Heather intended to make some snide remark about the whole scenario but stopped short once he made eye contact with her, smiling in such a disarming way that any jab died on her tongue.

"So you're off to Hell", it wasn't a question. "What if that wasn't the case and you actually returned to Ohio?" he queried, the question causing Heather to do a double take, who was this guy? The fuck was he on about? and why is he saying it all like he's talking about the damn weather and not a matter of life and death. "Names Lucifer but I've accrued many names over my time so feel free to use whichever you feel like" he said with a boyish grin standing up and sticking out his hand for a handshake before thinking against that idea and putting it instead in his suit pocket.

"Heather. Chandler" she squeaked being acutely aware of who she was in the presence of, a situation made worse by the fact that the guy must have been at least a foot if not two taller than her.

"A pleasure. Now then I have a certain something I'd like doing up in the land of the living. Accept this task and I'll pull a few strings to see that you get to stay topside once it's complete. How does that sound?" His head tilted as he studied Heather, a small smile persisting on his face.

In contrast to how calm he was however, Heather felt like she'd just been hit by a train, an endless stream of outcomes streamed through her mind too quick for her to really comprehend any. "What do you mean?" she eventually forced out, her mind still racing but to a more manageable extent, "What do you want from me?".

"I would like you to kill your murderer" he stated with a smirk as Heather's once calm mind went back into overdrive. "Perform this one task for me" he continued, "and you can stay alive and live the life you were robbed of".

Heather's heart lept, Sawyers had ended the friendship pretty conclusively so her life was fair game. Still this was the Devil, deceit was kinda his whole shtick, so the specifics of the deal were important. "Ok... so let's say I took you up on this offer, is there a deadline I have to kill her by and what happens if I fail?" she asked since those two questions seemed the most salient given guns weren't hard to come by and Heather couldn't imagine Veronica being all too bullet resistant.

"An excellent question my dear, in short because you're not exactly meant to be up there you've a three week deadline by which point we have to recall if the jobs still incomplete. In this scenario since you technically made a deal with the Devil, as the saying goes, you'll be getting the whole nine yards of torture rather than the slap on the wrist you're currently scheduled for."

Heather sighed the cost of failure was pretty bad but it was negated by just how unlikely such an outcome was and the reward was just too tantalising for her to pass up. Standing up straight she looked Lucifer in the eyes "alright I'll do it" she said confidently.

Grinning like the Cheshire Cat the Devil stuck out his hand which Heather promptly shook, any nervousness now gone as she felt an odd surge flow through the handshake and spread through her body making her feel more energised than she could ever remember. "Perfect. Now as an agent of Hell we'll get sort you out with a new outfit and some credentials but before you go I have one last gift" he said producing a wooden box from one of the draws on his desk.

"And as a representative of Hell you have to be properly dressed for your debut." he said opening the box revealing ten gleaming silver metal rods. Picking one out Heather noticed that they were actually comprised of three separate pieces which let them bend with one end razor sharp and the other having a large hole which showed them to be hollow. Simply watching Heather examine one Lucifer took another out of the box and slipped it delicately onto her finger, the action causing heather to redirect her examination from the one in her hand to the one on her finger.

"They're called 'Hell Claws' Heather" Lucifer said proceeding to ever so gently slip more onto the rest of her fingers. "Since we can't have you running around in your new demon form these claws will take their place. Plus they'll react once they tastes the blood of your quarry so you know its them and'll basically give your target a fast tag to go straight to Hell rather than having to wait in line like you did."

"Wait demon form?" Heather said quizzically giving her hands and experimental clench since all her fingers were now about two inches longer. Also won't it be kinda problematic to be caught walking around with these things on" Heather asked noticing she couldn't take the talons off.

"You're a servant of Hell now Heather, the moment you accepted the deal you received powers denoting that you're now in my employment. Also I wouldn't worry about being caught the claws are basically training wheels since you haven't learnt yet how to transform just one part of your body yet, but it means they act in the same way in that you can will them to be there or not" he answered calmly. Heather quirked an eyebrow at the last part but like he said she worked for him now so there'd be no reason to lie. She gave the whole willing them away thing an experimental go, closing her eyes and focusing on the thought of her fingers bear when Heather opened her eyes she found them be missing, surprised she tried again, this time with a lot less focus about them being back and it happened.

"Huh. Well that's a cool trick" Heather thought aloud as she flipped between having them there and having them not with a fair amount of ease before settling on having them there as it oddly enough felt more natural than having them bare.

"Glad you like them but in any case it's time for you to get changed you've a deal to fulfil remember? Now shoo my tailor will look after you" he said motioning to the door she had came through. Heather did as told but before she crossed the threshold of the door she turned back to where the Devil had returned to his papers. "Thank you for this opportunity sir I won't fail you" Heather said a smile growing on her face as she took the final step out to face the world reborn.

Before she could even get her bearings on the new room she'd entered, which was a lot brighter than the shady one she'd exited, she was accosted by who she could only assume was the tailor speaking a mile a minute.

"You're cute!" the woman cooed directing her onto onto a slight plinth where she immediately started taking measurements. "Mm and this outfit is gorgeous but the school girl style isn't really gonna work well for you anymore since you're not a school girl. Well that and it no longer fits!" the tailor giggled. Heather let the woman work, she was accustomed to this sort of idle chatter they did while working, she'd experienced it enough times, but at that final statement Heather looked down and noticed she wasn't wrong. The outfit did feel too small, her skirt came down to a higher point than she was used to and her blazer was a lot tighter than it had ever been with the sleeves being also quite short. "When did that happen?" Heather mused she'd been in this outfit the entire time and she'd never had such an issue, it had always fit perfectly.

"Hm? Oh yes. Well basically you don't age in Purgatory but since you're one of us now your bodies kinda caught back up with itself all at once so you've basically had a growth spurt. Which means you get a makeover!" She squealed picking up a few different items of clothing and holding them up against Heather.

She'd quickly tuned the tailor out after that, she was much like Heather McNamara in that she said a lot but nothing mattered once it was said, she just spoke. She was vaguely aware that the woman was also doing her makeup and hair but Heather had zoned out following the woman's commands on autopilot while her mind was on other matters, like her impending return to the land of the living. What would she do? Should she go kill Veronica immediately or should she reacquaint herself with the Heathers. That was a thought actually, did she want to pick up her old life? was that really wise? Everyone would know she had died so popping up again would be weird to say the least.

Plus she wasn't sure she even wanted to reconnect with the Heathers, she may not have been the best person ever to them, Heather Duke especially, but still it didn't seem right that she could just come back and make things go back to the way things were with them as her lackeys since High school would most likely be over when she got out and so too would any influence she once commanded. She was abruptly brought out of her thoughts before she could decide if maybe she wanted to try for a regular friendship with them by a pair snapping fingers right in front of her face, oh right the tailor.

"There ya go darling back with us?" she said still in that motherly tone like she actually gave a shit

"Mm yeah sorry must have got lost for a second there what were you saying?"

"That you were done. Come on don't you wanna see the new Heather?" she said pushing Heather towards a tall mirror.

"New Heather wha..." Heather responded before catching a look of herself in the mirror. Gone was her old Westerburg uniform and instead she was wearing a dark red blouse with the first few buttons undone, black leather jeans which hung tightly to her long legs and black suede ankle boots which added about two inches to her height. The outfit, though it gave off a bit of a bad girl style like Sandy at the end of Grease which had never been Heathers style, looked great on her. Accentuating all her features from the jeans and boots giving the impression that her already long legs stretched on for miles while the open blouse kinda reminded her of that sexy secretary kink Kurt and Ram had brought up a couple times. She also noticed a biker style black leather jacket which really hammered the bad girl theme home but Heather liked it all the same.

It was only on looking her outfit up and down a couple more times that she noticed her face, her makeup and hair weren't anything too special, the former being quite light as to show off her freckles which Heather had always covered up and the latter being in a tight ponytail with the tail part still being her natural frizzy curls. No those weren't the objects of her gaze, nor really how her face had matured somewhat but was still unquestionably her, but rather the gaze itself, her eyes were different. Not only were they no longer green as they always had been but rather a piercing yellow but also her iris were looked more feline with a narrow slit rather than what human iris' looked like.

"What happened to my eyes?" Heather said curtly.

"Hm? oh yes aren't they pretty?" she responded in the same bubbly manner "well you know what they say 'the eyes are a window to the soul' and you've sold yours honey".

"The first of many things I wasn't told about the deal" Heather thought bitterly to herself, she wasn't angry about the change, they looked pretty in an odd sort of way, more annoyed that such a trivial thing wasn't mentioned like she couldn't be trusted with the information or something.

"Alright is that everything or do I need to get a passport and register to vote too?"

"Aww! Anxious to get up there? But no everything you'll need topside is in your jacket I'll send you off now." she said leading Heather back over to the small raised platform from early which Heather only now realised had a pentagram and some latin looking writing around the edge of the circle.

"And remember you won't get a second chance at this so don't cock it up. Toodles!" was the last thing Heather heard before the pentagram she was standing on lit up, nearly blinding her, and surrounding her in a wall of flames. She'd expected such proximity to fire would burn her flesh straight off but all Heather could feel was a slight warmth, though as soon as the flames and heat appeared they were gone replaced only by a cool breeze.

The ground around her was scorched and Heather quickly realised that she was in a cemetery, on a grave as it happened, naturally she felt uneasy standing on someones grave but morbid curiosity had got the better of her, she needed to know why this was where she'd been placed, easily cutting off the charred ivy with her claws Heather found the answer she half suspected but hoped dearly wasn't the case.

' _Heather chandler, Born 1973 Died 1989. A light too soon snuffed out._ ' Heather read out loud, forcing herself to choke back a sob before scrambling off the grave, her grave, and trying desperately to keep it together. She knew that had her last meal not been drain-o she'd probably of been sick twice over at this point.

Eventually calming down from the shock and sick feeling from seeing her own grave a familiar sadness overtook her, the surrounding graves were all from about the same time period yet hers was the only one in such a state of disrepair. "I see my parents treat my grave with the same level of love and care they treated me with, no surprise there" Heather chuckled mirthlessly "even still clearly the Heather's never came to visit, so much for being friends. And I guess Veronica didn't feel guilty for it either".

Getting up from the ground and properly taking in her surroundings for the first time Heather noticed that she'd been reborn on a rather beautiful night, the moon was full over head and the clear sky showed that fact off in all its glory. "I best be off, there's nothing here for Heather Chandler anymore" Heather sighed moving towards the exit unable to look back at the grave she was in, all doubt about how she would live her second life vanished as the memory of her headstones condition was seared into her mind. Anyone she'd ever cared for had either ended or forgotten her existence. Sherwood had forgotten her, they had no right to a single second of her new life, this life was a fresh start and she was gonna spend it in much greener pastures than shitty old Sherwood.

"Let's go pay Veronica a visit" Heather thought solemnly as she made her way to the cemetery gates. Seeing her grave so unkempt made killing Veronica a little bit more palatable but no matter how much she wanted to be happy about what came next the embers of a friendship she once cherished burned hot so the best she could muster was morbid acceptance of what needed to be done. Heather tried not to dwell on those embers, pushing them down as far as possible, it was a kill or be killed type situation and she couldn't afford to lose this chance, Heather only hoped she would be able to pump herself up about the idea before she had to do it.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so I know it's not particularly much but cut me some slack this is my first time writing. Any advice you wanna give on how the chapters been written would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> I'd also love to hear if you guys have any thoughts on how the story should progress, I've a rough plot sketched out but nothings really set in stone so I'd love to here you guy's thoughts.


End file.
